Login
    • Board
      • Learn, Lead, Inspire
      • Board and Committee Meetings
      • By-law, Policies, Procedures, Protocols
      • Director and Superintendents
      • Trustees
      • Publications
    • Programs & Learning
      • Athletics - Elementary
      • Athletics - Secondary
      • Before and After School Programs
      • Child Care
      • Multi-lingual Learners (MLL)
      • EQAO Results
      • French as a Second Language
      • Grand Erie Learning Alternatives (GELA)
      • Graduate
      • Indigenous Education
      • Kindergarten
      • Safe and Inclusive Schools
      • Secondary School Profiles
      • Secondary Programs
      • Special Education
      • Summer Learning at Grand Erie
    • Family Supports
      • Brightspace
      • Canada Learning Bond Program
      • Concussion Information
      • Grand Erie Parent Involvement Committee (GEPIC)
      • Inclement Weather and Bus and School Impacts
      • Mental Health
      • Online & Remote Learning Resources for Families
      • Parent/Caregiver/Community Member Concern Chart
      • Registration
      • School Cash Online
      • School Councils
      • School Year Calendars 2022-23
      • Student Accident Insurance
      • eLearning Opt-out
    • Community
      • Accessibility
      • Archives
      • CareerLink
      • Career Opportunities
      • Teaching Opportunities
      • Community Use of Schools
      • Continuing Education
      • Days of Significance
      • Flyer Process
      • Land Acknowledgement
      • Newsroom
      • Privacy and Freedom of Information
      • Student Record/Transcript Request
      • Volunteers
    • Departments
      • Business Services
      • Facility Services
      • Finance (Audit Committee, Budget)
      • Health and Safety
      • Planning
      • Purchasing
      • Research and Assessment
    • Contact Us
    • Accessibility
    • Archives
    • CareerLink
    • Career Opportunities
    • Teaching Opportunities
    • Community Use of Schools
    • Continuing Education
    • Days of Significance
    • Flyer Process
    • Land Acknowledgement
    • Newsroom
      • School Year Calendars 2022-23
      • Feature Stories
        • 2020-21
        • 2019-20
        • 2018-19
        • 2016-17
        • 2015-16
      • Labour Updates
      • The Leader - Board Meeting Highlights
      • Media Consent
      • Media Releases
      • On the Job With...
      • Schools in the News
      • Social Media Guidelines
    • Privacy and Freedom of Information
    • Student Record/Transcript Request
    • Volunteers

    ​Walking Together Comes Home

    Caption: Geronimo Henry stands in Walking Together exhibit space

    “He told a story about all the boys
    How on the last day of school
    Every one of them would run to that particular window
    To watch the cars pull up to pick them up
    And how every year he waited as nobody came for him”

    – from "Nobody Came", mixed media work by Kaneesha Hill, Pauline Johnson Collegiate & Vocational School

    Geronimo Henry has a striking tattoo of the number 48 on his right hand. This is “his number” – the one he was assigned by the Mohawk Institute, the former residential school in Brantford where Henry spent 11 long, heartbreaking years beginning at the age of five.

    “They took away our language, our culture… they took away our way of life,” said Henry. “I had a lot of anger and resentment for a long time after that.”

     

    Sharing his story has become part of a healing journey for Henry, a Cayuga member of Six Nations of the Grand River, who is now 80 years old. His story, along with other survivors of the residential school system, are what informed Walking Together, an intergenerational community arts project that brought together First Nations artists, Elders, and eleven First Nations students from Pauline Johnson Collegiate and Vocational School.

    Pauline Johnson C & VS students gathered information through interviews and photography as they spoke with survivors, and together, walked through the former residential school building. Learning of the sad and painful memories, students discovered the heartbreaking legacy the former residential school students have harboured, and, inspired by their courage and resilience, used this legacy to inform the project.

    The resulting works of encaustic, mixed media art serve as a reminder of this chapter in Canadian history, and of the importance of having the freedom to speak one’s language and live one’s culture.

    “I decided that I would spend the rest of my life sharing my story, to get the message out to the next generation,” Henry said of his involvement with Walking Together. “Every time I tell my story, I heal myself a little bit more.”

    Walking Together exhibit information:
    The Walking Together exhibit is on view at Woodland Cultural Centre from February 4 until May 2. Opening reception takes place Saturday, February 4 at 12 p.m.

    LearnLeadInspire_FullLogo-800px.png

    Grand Erie District SCHOOL BOARD

    349 Erie Avenue

    Brantford, ON N3T 5V3

    519-756-6301

    1-888-548-8878

     

           

     

    VIEW ON MAP

    RESOURCES

    • Absence Dispatch System
    • eBase
    • Employee Assistance Program
    • Office 365 Login
    • Password Reset
    • PowerSchool Admin

     

    • Power Teacher
    • Sitemap
    • Staff Portal
    • Virtual Learning Environment
    • Website Login

    © GRAND ERIE DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD

    Feedback | Privacy Policy